


Reprogramming Failure

by smarshtastic



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Blackwatch Era, Blackwatch Jesse McCree, Blackwatch Reaper | Gabriel Reyes, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Undercover, Undercover Missions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 12:22:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11623446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smarshtastic/pseuds/smarshtastic
Summary: Jesse isn’t sure why anyone is bothering with this whole thing in the first place; if someone is smuggling bot parts for resale and repurposing, it seems a lot less dangerous than the stuff Blackwatch is usually concerned with. Weapons. Money laundering. Human trafficking. It feels small time. But Blackwatch is in no position to argue with the Strike Commander – at least not since the Zip Tie Incident – and, anyway, they like to keep busy.---An undercover mission goes awry when a handful of old bots recognize Gabe.





	Reprogramming Failure

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fabrega](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabrega/gifts).



> It's Day #4: Undercover/Recognition for [Blackwatch Week](https://blackwatchweek.tumblr.com/). These are not nice robots. [These highly decorated bots, however,](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11569629) definitely are nice. 
> 
> You should definitely check out the Blackwatch Week [twitter](https://twitter.com/blackwatchweek) and [tumblr](https://blackwatchweek.tumblr.com/) to see all the good content we've been spoiled with!! 
> 
> Thank you (as usual) to [fabrega](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabrega/) for being a fantastic beta ♥
> 
> You can find my on [tumblr](http://wictorwictor.tumblr.com/) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/smarshtastic)! Come say hi!

Undercover missions are some of Jesse’s favorites. He likes being able to try on a different persona, a different outfit – pretend like he’s not Jesse McCree for some length of time. When he was younger, that aspect of undercover missions had a definite appeal. These days, it’s more of an interesting challenge. It keeps him on his toes.

Something about this mission, though, doesn’t feel quite right. Jesse can’t put his finger on it.

Actually – that’s not true; Jesse knows exactly what it is about this mission that doesn’t feel right, but there’s not a damn thing he can do about it now.

“Get your hands out of your hair,” Gabe says irritably, for what is probably the third or fourth time at this point. Jesse drops his hand from his newly close-cropped hair and makes a face at Gabe, who looks almost totally unrecognizable without his usual goatee.

“It’s just weird,” Jesse says. Gabe sighs.

“I know. But you’re drawing attention to it,” Gabe says. He adjusts his sunglasses. “It’ll grow back.”

“You have a baby face, you know,” Jesse says. “Under all that scruff, and even with your scars, you really look –”

Over the comms, Valdez clears her throat. “How about a status update?”

“Heh,” Jesse says with a sheepish shrug.

“We’re in position,” Gabe says, giving Jesse a look.

“Nothing to report yet,” Jesse adds. “But we’ve got eyes on the whole place.”

“Great,” Valdez says. “I’ll let you know if anything comes up on the scans.”

“Thanks. Over and out,” Gabe says. He looks at Jesse again. “ _ You _ look ridiculous, by the way. Have I ever seen you clean shaven?”

“No,” Jesse grumbles, feeling self-conscious again. He scrubs a hand through his hair. Gabe catches his hand and kisses his knuckles.

“You look good,” Gabe says. “Different, but – still handsome.”

Jesse scrunches his face up, the color rising to his cheeks. He looks away and mumbles, “I feel naked.”

Gabe chuckles. He laces their fingers together. “Come on, let’s take a turn of the concourse.”

This is one thing about undercover missions that Jesse likes very, very much: the opportunity to be publicly affectionate is a rare occurrence for him and Gabe. They’re used to keeping their distance, maintaining the professionalism when they’re on base. It’s important to both of them that their relationship is treated separately from their job. But, still, any time they go undercover and it’s reasonable – or at least  _ believable _ – that they could play a couple, they jump at the chance. The two of them make an incredibly effective team, so the rest of the strike team never minds the pairing (even though Shiga often ends up being paired up with Edwards as a result). Still, Jesse and Gabe are careful to toe the line of propriety. There’s no reason to make the lives of the rest of Blackwatch uncomfortable.

Jesse swings Gabe’s hand a little as they stroll lazily through the shopping complex.

“Would you look at this place, huh?” he says. “The amount of money that must pass through here on a daily basis…”

“Don’t start getting ideas now,” Gabe says dryly. Jesse squeezes his hand.

“Don’t you worry about me. I know why we’re here,” he says. “I’m just saying – I ain’t seen nothing like this before. Certainly not where I grew up.”

“Consider yourself lucky, then,” Gabe says. “These things are all over LA.”

“Were you a mall rat?” Jesse asks teasingly. Gabe rolls his eyes.

“I was a very good student, I’ll have you know,” he replies.

“That I believe,” Jesse says. He leans up and kisses his cheek – it’s also an excuse to murmur in his ear. “Check out those security bots.”

“Old models,” Gabe says, a slight frown coming over his face.

“Wasn’t that in the brief?”

“It was, but…” Gabe trails off. He presses his fingers to his ear piece. “Valdez, have Edwards run a scan on the security bots along concourse G as in gamma.”

“Yes sir.”

“Problem?”

“I don’t think so,” Gabe says. He squeezes Jesse’s hand again. “Come on, buy me a soft pretzel.”

Jesse grins. “With pleasure.”

They find themselves at the food court, scoping out the lay of the land. Jesse and Gabe had already thoroughly reviewed the blueprints in preparation for the mission, but it always helps to get a perspective from the ground as well. The real problem, it’s becoming quickly apparent, is that they’re surrounded by liabilities. While the Blackwatch strike team is used to running undercover missions, it’s not often that they’re plunked down right in the middle of civilian territory. Usually, they leave that up to Overwatch proper. This time, however, Strike Commander Morrison decided it was too risky to put any of his own agents in the line of fire. Blackwatch stepped up, as they always do.

Jesse isn’t sure why anyone is bothering with this whole thing in the first place; if someone is smuggling bot parts for resale and repurposing, it seems a lot less dangerous than the stuff Blackwatch is usually concerned with. Weapons. Money laundering. Human trafficking. It feels small time. But Blackwatch is in no position to argue with the Strike Commander – at least not since the Zip Tie Incident – and, anyway, they like to keep busy.

So here he is, watching Gabe lick melted butter off his bare lips.

“It’s distracting,” Jesse says out loud. Gabe raises an eyebrow.

“What is distracting?”

“Your lack of facial hair,” Jesse says. Gabe blinks then rolls his eyes.

“Am I going to have to bring Shiga out here instead?”

“I know how to do my job,” Jesse says. He tugs Gabe in for a kiss. “You’re just distractingly handsome.”

Gabe snorts but lets Jesse kiss him. He tears off a piece of pretzel and offers it to Jesse. He eats it right out of Gabe’s fingers.

“Scans are back,” Valdez says into their ears. “The security bots have tech dating back pre-Crisis, scrubbed and repurposed. Edwards says it shouldn’t be a problem – they’re a lot more vulnerable to external attack than any of the new tech that’s around these days, so he’ll be able to shut them down remotely.”

“Good to know,” Jesse says.

“Keep tabs on them,” Gabe says. “If it’s adapted tech, there’s no telling what they’re capable of.”

“Yes sir,” Valdez says. “The target shipment is approaching the drop off. If you two start heading that way, we’ll connect you with the contact.”

“On our way,” Gabe says. He hands the last bit of pretzel to Jesse and dusts off his hands. “Ready?”

“Rarin’.”

Hand in hand, Jesse and Gabe take a circuitous route back down the concourse and to the drop off location. Their contact is a former gang member turned informant, with ties across the black market for banned and illegal tech. She knew Shiga before Shiga came to Blackwatch years ago, which made earning her trust simultaneously easier and more difficult. It’s been a fruitful relationship, though; as soon as Strike Commander Morrison put them on this mission, they got into contact with the informant. Blackwatch was going to do it their way.

She’s already waiting for them by the time Jesse and Gabe stroll up; her dark green hair and undercut unmistakable in the otherwise clean-cut shopping crowd. She spots them and waves with her handmade prosthetic; it might not be state of the art, but it works and it certainly looks cool.

“You’re late,” she says.

“We’re right on time,” Gabe replies, looking her over. Whatever his reputation might be outside of Blackwatch, Jesse knows that look; Gabe cares about the well-being not only of his agents, but of his informants. He’s protective – he feels every loss strongly, even though he may not show it.

She shrugs. “Well, you’re here. Almost didn’t recognize either of you.”

“That’s kind of the point,” Gabe says dryly.

“But seriously – you look like a baby.”

Jesse snorts. “Told you.”

“You  _ really _ look like a baby,” she says to Jesse. This time, Gabe snorts.

“Are we ready to go?” he asks. She flaps her metal hand at them dismissively.

“Yeah, yeah. Come on through,” she says. She turns and leads them into the electronics repair store. Gabe lets Jesse step ahead of him, bringing up the rear with a sharp eye. Jesse always feels safer when he knows Gabe has his back.

From his Deadlock days, Jesse understands the value of having a reputable front for one’s illegal activities, but it seems like an unnecessary risk to set up shop in the middle of a civilian shopping mall. Maybe Jesse’s out of touch.

Their informant leads them behind the counter and into the back room, which is lined with what looks like the same security bots that Jesse has seen patrolling the concourse. Jesse hears the faint hum of their motors, but the bots look unresponsive.

“Here they are,” she says, spreading her arms. “Fresh off the back of the truck.”

“We were supposed to meet your supplier,” Gabe says, frowning. Jesse counts the bots: ten in total.

“Like I said,” she replies. “You were late.”

“That wasn’t part of the deal.”

Jesse shifts on the spot, glancing back at the security bots. One of the bots has a light flashing on its faceplate, though it hasn’t moved as far as he can tell. Jesse moves towards the bots to get a closer look.

“Look, I’m sorry, alright?” the informant is saying. “You know how these things go.”

“The operation doesn’t work if we don’t meet your supplier,” Gabe replies crisply. He’s irritated, but he’s trying to keep his cool. After cultivating an informant for so many years, it does nobody any good if they squander her expertise at this point in the game. It’s a rare occurrence that Gabe loses his temper over a plan gone awry. If you asked Jesse, this was just one of many reasons why Gabe was better suited to this type of work over a certain strike commander.

“I can’t control him.”

“Do you want to help us or not?”

Jesse looks back at the informant. Her arms are folded over her chest and she’s avoiding Gabe’s eyes. She shifts on the spot. Jesse knows that look.

“What did your guy say to you?” Jesse asks, dropping his voice low. The informant glances at Jesse and scoffs.

“It’s not that deep,” she says.

“If he’s holding something over you –”

“Leave it, would you? I don’t need some knights in shining armor to try to rescue me. I’ve taken care of myself for years,” she says. “Do you want the bots or not?”

Gabe purses his lips. “Fine. We’ll bring the car around the back.”

“Fine,” the informant says. She turns away from Jesse and Gabe. “Make it fast then.”

Back out on the concourse, Jesse takes Gabe’s hand again and squeezes.

“Something’s wrong,” Jesse says, voice low.

“I know,” Gabe says, a worried pinch between his brows.

“She’s in over her head.”

“Probably.”

“Then?”

“You heard her – she doesn’t want our help.”

Jesse makes a frustrated noise. “I didn’t want your help either, once upon a time.”

“This is different. She’s chosen to be an informant – she knew what the risks were,” Gabe says. Jesse frowns, skeptical, but doesn’t say anything else as they slide into the van.

“I guess not everyone gets to be as lucky as me,” Jesse says as Gabe starts the engine. Gabe glances out of the corner of his eye at Jesse, who offers him a small smile. The corner of Gabe’s mouth twitches up before he faces forward again.

“It helped that you wanted to make a better life for yourself,” Gabe says.

“Not at first.”

“No, not at first,” Gabe agrees. “But you came around.”

“I got lucky,” Jesse says again. Gabe lets out a neutral hum, but Jesse sees the curve of his mouth much easier without the goatee.

Gabe pulls around the back of the shopping complex, looking for the sign for the electronics repair shop. Jesse points it out and Gabe backs up to the door.

“Maybe we can get her to come with us back to the base,” Jesse says.

“We’d have to arrest her,” Gabe says. “I’d rather not burn that bridge if I can help it. If she changes her mind, she knows how to get ahold of us.”

Jesse lets his breath out. He knows Gabe is right, he knows he can’t save everyone – but Jesse can’t help but wonder if there isn’t anything more they can do. Without knowing exactly what’s going on with the informant and her ties, though, it’s too risky. Gabe’s right.

Gabe knocks on the back door of the electronic shop. The informant pokes her head out after a moment. She eyes the van.

“Is that enough room?”

“It’s gonna have to be,” Jesse says. The informant makes a face.

“Well hurry up then.”

It takes Jesse and Gabe less than ten minutes to load up the van. Jesse closes up the doors. Gabe gives the informant one more look.

“Are you sure there’s nothing we can do?” Gabe asks, voice going low and serious. The informant scoffs and folds her arms over her chest again.

“I’m a big girl, Reyes,” she says. If it surprises Gabe she knows his name, he doesn’t show it - which only makes the informant more irritated. She huffs.  “I can take care of myself.”

“You know where to find us,” Gabe says. “If you change your mind.”

“You don’t have to give me the speech.”

“Figured you should at least hear it again,” Gabe says. “We’ll be in touch soon.”

“I’m not gonna be here,” she replies.

“I know.”

The informant scrunches up her face but doesn’t say anything more.

“Take care of yourself,” Jesse says as he gets back up into the front seat. The informant rolls her eyes and steps back into the shop. Gabe climbs into the driver’s seat. Jesse pulls his eyes away from the shop as Gabe starts the engine. “I worry.”

Gabe glances at Jesse. “Me too.”

=-=-=

The drive to the storage facility takes them just out of town and into the desert. Jesse leans his head back against the headrest, watching the red dirt take over the trees. It’s soothing.

Overwatch’s weapons facility is supposed to be a temporary storage solution, a holding area for confiscated objects slated to be destroyed. The backlog never seems to clear up, though; most of the items stored here are lower priority, still awaiting a more thorough investigation. Someday, someday they’ll catch up.

A bored-looking attendant waves Gabe and Jesse through as they pull up to the facility.

“Remind me why this was too much for Overwatch proper?” Jesse asks. Gabe pulls up to a loading dock.

“In theory, it would’ve been,” Gabe says. “Had the supplier actually shown up.”

“Made us shave for almost nothing,” Jesse grumbles. Gabe lets out a breath that might be a laugh.

“It’ll grow back.”

The two of them hop out of the van. Gabe talks to the facility attendant while Jesse opens the back doors of the van. He starts hauling bots out of the van. One of them moves, turning its face plate towards Jesse. Jesse drops it and jumps back. Gabe turns to look at him.

“What was that?”

“Sorry – one of the bots moved,” Jesse says sheepishly. He stoops to get the bot upright. Gabe comes to help him. “Caught me off guard.”

“Let’s get them inside. They have a spot for them in the main storage room.”

Jesse and Gabe haul the bots inside, lining them up and tagging them with the appropriate information. The bots all seem to be waking up, as it were; their motors started whirring, their heads turning, lighting up and faceplates following them. It’s eerie, making the hairs on the back of Jesse’s neck stand up.

“Valdez?” Gabe says into their comms.

“Yes sir?”

“Would you do me a favor and have Edwards run a final scan on these things? I have a hunch this isn’t going to be the last of them,” Gabe says. Jesse looks over at him.

“What’s that mean?”

“I have a feeling –” Gabe starts to say, and then the whole row of bots light up, their heads swiveling to look at Gabe. The lights on their faceplates glow red.

“Uh,” Jesse says, taking a step back.

“Valdez?” Gabe asks.

“Working on it.”

Throughout the storage room, various other bots light up and swivel towards Jesse and Gabe. Jesse takes a step back.

“Gabe –”

“I see it.”

“Stef? Faster would be better,” Jesse says, reaching for the weapon in his waistband. Gabe draws his own weapon as the bots start to converge on them.

It’s immediately chaos. Left and right, bots break free of their storage cubicles and converge on the spot, all of them seeming to make a beeline directly toward them. They manage to squeeze off a couple of shots before they’re overwhelmed completely. Jesse does his best, but the strength and determination of the bots is almost insurmountable. They aren’t armed, of course, but their metal limbs do more than enough damage on their own. It takes Jesse a few dizzying moments to realize that the bots are focusing their attack on Gabe, only pushing Jesse aside when they have to. Jesse throws himself between the bots and Gabe, doing the best he can to fend off their attacks. He covers Gabe’s body with his own, but he feels Gabe get tugged out from underneath him. Desperately, he grabs at Gabe to keep him close. Faintly, he hears Stef in his ear, but the earpiece is knocked away and a blow to the temple sends Jesse into unconsciousness.

=-=-=

Jesse wakes, sore and groggy, in a bed in the infirmary. He shifts and regrets it instantly, groaning hoarsely. He feels like he’s been through the wringer. There’s a biotic field still gently humming around him, but it’s not doing much good. He turns his head, carefully, slowly, to look around. He spots Gabe on the bed next to him; badly beaten, face swollen and bruised. The image of the bots swarming them comes back to him suddenly; the cold, cruel lights on blank faceplates, the endless swing of metal limbs. Jesse shudders.

With a great effort, Jesse lifts himself out of his bed and crosses the space between his bed and Gabe’s. He crowds himself onto the edge of Gabe’s bed. It’s a tight fit, and Gabe doesn’t move. Jesse slings an arm over Gabe’s chest, tucking his nose into Gabe’s shorn hair.

“I got you,” Jesse says, voice coming out rough and used. Gabe doesn’t respond. Jesse presses his eyes closed again. “I got you.”

Gabe doesn’t move. Jesse holds him tight and lets the quietly beeping monitors reassure him. He falls asleep again.

Jesse is woken abruptly by a sharp smack to the face, and then another fist connects with his temple. He wobbles and falls off the edge of the bed. Disoriented, it takes him a moment get his bearings. Then he hears Gabe’s sob.

Jesse scrambles to sit up in spite of the dizziness that’s making the edges of his vision go dark. Somewhere above him, the monitors are beeping wildly. He peeks over the edge of the bed.

“Gabe?”

“Don’t –”

“Gabe, it’s me,” Jesse says. Gabe is curled up into himself, eyes pressed tightly shut, his face half-hidden in his pillow. He makes a small distressed noise. Jesse reaches out and puts a tentative hand on his shoulder. Gabe’s arm shoots out, grabbing Jesse’s wrist and pushing it back sharply. Jesse cries out. “Gabe!”

Dr. Ziegler and a handful of nurses run in. They manage to detangle Jesse from Gabe’s grip and haul Jesse back into his own bed.

“But –” Jesse protests, cradling his wrist against his chest.

“Not now, Jesse,” Dr. Ziegler snaps. She and the nurses hover over Gabe, speaking in low, quick voices under Gabe’s sobs. A moment later, the sobs fade and the frantic beeping of the monitors stabilizes. They move back and forth for a few more minutes before Dr. Ziegler turns her attention to Jesse.

“What happened?” Jesse asks, wincing as Dr. Ziegler pulls his wrist away from his chest and feels along the bones.

“Likely a form of PTSD,” Dr. Ziegler says briskly. “SEP does a lot for Commander Reyes, but the scars of the Omnic Crisis run deeper than we know. Take a breath.”

“Wait –” Jesse starts to say, but Dr. Ziegler twists his wrist sharply, resetting the joint. He yanks his arm away. “Jeeze, Angie.”

“You should’ve been more careful,” she chides, reaching for another biotic field and a handful of elastic bandages. She takes Jesse’s wrist back and binds it tightly. “Keep your arm in the field, please. I don’t want you hurting yourself again.”

Jesse looks over at Gabe’s bed. Gabe appears to be sleeping, a line between his brows as his chest rises and falls steadily. Dr. Ziegler follows his gaze.

“He’ll be fine,” Dr. Ziegler says. “He always bounces back. Get some rest, now.”

Jesse lies back. Dr. Ziegler and the nurses leave them alone again, turning out the lights as they go. In the dim light of the biotic field, Jesse tries to keep an eye on Gabe’s face. He falls asleep like that, keeping a watchful eye over Gabe.

=-=-=

Gabe isn’t there when Jesse wakes the next morning. Jesse sits straight up; he hates when Gabe leaves the infirmary before he does as a general matter, but after seeing the shape that Gabe had been in… It only makes Jesse worry more.

Dr. Ziegler bustles in.

“You’re awake,” she says, taking Jesse’s wrist in both hands.

“Where’s Gabe?”

“Commander Reyes is speaking with the psychiatrist,” Dr. Ziegler says. She pauses to give Jesse a severe look. “Which you’re not supposed to know, but I know that if I don’t tell you, you’ll wander off and hurt yourself all over again.”

“You know me too well, Angie,” Jesse says, slumping backwards against the pillows. He watches her unbind his wrist and feel along the joint.

“I know it must not seem like it, but I do get tired of chasing you around,” Dr. Ziegler says. “Your wrist might be a little sore for a day or two, but it won’t be permanent.”

“You’re an angel,” Jesse says. Dr. Ziegler sighs and shakes her head.

“Sometimes I’m not sure why I even bother,” she says.

“Is Gabe coming back here?”

“He will - he just needs one more pass under a biotic field, I think,” she says. Her expression goes sober. “Those bots certainly did a number on you both, but Commander Reyes took the brunt of it.”

Jesse swallows. Dr. Ziegler pets his shoulder gently. “Get some rest. I’ll get you another biotic field.”

=-=-=

Gabe still isn’t back when Valdez and Edwards stop by. They both look grim.

“Hey,” Edwards says, hanging back a step behind Valdez.

“You look like shit,” Valdez says affectionately.

“I think it’s because I don’t have any facial hair left,” Jesse says, rubbing his bare chin. Valdez snorts.

“I never realized how much your awful facial hair does cover up all that –” she gestures at his face. “- Natural ugliness underneath.”

“Gee, thanks,” Jesse says. She gives him a small smile.

“Where’s Reyes?”

“Talking to some docs, I think,” Jesse says with a little shrug. “Doc Z said he’d be back.”

“How are you feeling?” Edwards asks. Jesse shrugs.

“Sore. Fine,” he says. “Do you know what happened, exactly? I only got bits and pieces.”

Edwards grimaces. “It was old tech – scrubbed but not enough, as far as we can tell. There was some facial recognition programming that… held on.”

“It reactivated when they scanned Reyes in the storage facility, we think,” Valdez says.

“Best we can gather is that it was left over from the Crisis. Since Reyes was such a big hero and all,” Edwards says. “Revenge programming, or something. We didn’t catch it on the initial scans.”

“It had a virus protocol,” Valdez adds. “Infecting all the bots in the vicinity. We couldn’t shut it down fast enough.”

“Sorry,” Edwards says, dropping his gaze and shuffling on the spot. There’s a long pause.

“Well, at least we’re not dead,” Jesse says finally. “It’s not the first time we’ve ended up in the infirmary.”

“Just – glad to see you’re on the mend,” Edwards says.

“’Course,” Jesse says. “Thanks for visiting.”

Edwards bobs his head, shuffling again. Jesse is struck – not for the first time – by how awkward Edwards is around the rest of the team. Valdez claps Edwards on the shoulder.

“We’ll let you get some rest then,” she says. “We’ll come back when Reyes is feeling better too.”

“Yeah – thanks,” Jesse says. “Really – thanks. If you guys hadn’t have intervened…”

Valdez waves a hand. “Don’t start that. We’re a team. It’s what we do.”

=-=-=

Jesse is drifting in and out of sleep when Gabe comes back to the infirmary. He’s on his own two feet, albeit moving slowly. He lowers himself onto the hospital bed. Jesse blinks open his eyes blearily.

“Gabe?” he asks. There’s a pause.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Gabe says. He sounds bone-tired. Jesse turns onto his side.

“Hey,” Jesse says. Gabe fusses with the sheets, not picking up his head to look at Jesse. Jesse frowns. “Are you okay?”

Gabe lets a breath out and finally looks up at Jesse, a pained look in his eyes. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

Jesse stretches out a hand between their beds, reaching for him. Gabe hesitates before he reaches out to brush his fingertips against Jesse’s.

“Are you sure?”

“I hurt you,” Gabe says, voice small, rough. Jesse blinks.

“Oh – hey, don’t start that,” Jesse says. “I’m fine.”

Gabe looks away again, pulling his hand away from Jesse’s. Jesse sits up.

“Gabe.”

It takes a moment, but Gabe finally looks at Jesse again, his face twisted up.

“You didn’t do it on purpose,” Jesse says, a surety in his tone he hopes Gabe hears. “You’d never hurt me on purpose.”

Gabe bites his lip, but he nods. “I’m sorry.”

“You don’t gotta apologize,” Jesse says dismissively. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“More or less,” Gabe says, a rueful smile on his lips. “I haven’t had an episode like that in… Years.”

“Stands to reason, if you ask me. It was a fuckin’ nightmare.”

Gabe looks away again. Jesse softens. He swings his legs over the side of the bed.

“What do you need, Gabe? What can I do?”

“Do?” Gabe asks. He shakes his head. “It’s – it’s nothing. Angela’s biotic fields will finish up these bruises and SEP will take care of the rest.”

Jesse looks at Gabe for a long moment, but he’s still avoiding his eye. “You mind if I come over there, then?”

Gabe blinks. “You still want to?”

“We both sleep better that way,” Jesse points out. “But if it’s too much for you right now –”

“I didn’t think you’d want to,” Gabe says.

“You ain’t gonna scare me off, Gabe,” Jesse says. “Not now, not after everything we’ve been through. But if you don’t want me over there, that’s okay too.”

Gabe doesn’t say anything for a long moment. Then he lets out a breath he seems to have been holding.

“I’d like it if you came over here,” Gabe says quietly. Jesse slides off his bed immediately and swarms up onto Gabe’s before he has a chance to change his mind. He pulls Gabe into his arms and holds him close.

“I’m sorry,” Jesse murmurs, pressing a kiss to his temple. He feels Gabe go stiff in his arms.

“It wasn’t your fault, Jesse,” he says. “You didn’t –”

“No, I know. I mean I’m sorry that – that all that happened to you,” Jesse says. “You don’t gotta talk about it. But – I’m here if you do.”

It takes a few moments, but Jesse feels the tension go out of Gabe’s shoulders again. “Oh.”

Jesse kisses his temple again, then his cheek, his jaw. He rubs his own cheek gently against Gabe’s, enjoying the roughness of a few days’ worth of stubble. Gabe relaxes just a little more. The bed is too small, as usual, but Jesse doesn’t mind, taking most of Gabe’s bulk into his arms and against his chest.

Gabe exhales.

“I’ll be okay, Jesse,” he says softly into Jesse’s chest. Jesse kisses the top of his head.

“Even if you aren’t, I’ll be here,” Jesse promises. Gabe squeezes him gently.

“Thank you. I don’t know what –” Gabe stops. “Just… Thank you.”

Jesse kisses the top of his head again. He listens to Gabe’s breathing lengthen and even out, feels the last bits of tension go out of his limbs, the weight of him against his chest growing heavier as Gabe sinks into a relatively peaceful sleep. Jesse might never fully understand what Gabe’s been through, but it’s not going to stop him from being there for him at the end of the day. 


End file.
